Category: Black & White Photography

Mr Peter Lindbergh(1944) is the epitome of a rebellious spirit. He single-handedly changed the face of fashion photography, pushing boundaries and setting new standards along the way. The world-renowned German pioneer received his education in the early 1960’s at the Berlin Academy of Fine Arts, where he nurtured his admiration for Vincent van Gogh. Relocating to the French village of Arles for a year, he literally walked in the Dutch painters’ footsteps. A move that reveals not just mild affection but true passion.

After moving to Düsseldorf in 1971, Mr Lindbergh switched his focus from painting to photography. He quickly made a name for himself, joining news magazine Stern along with fellow photography rebels Helmut Newton, Guy Bourdin and Hans Feurer. It was around this time Mr Lindbergh developed an unusual sense of individuality, revolutionizing fashion photography with his timeless, cinematic images.

In the glamorous universe of VOGUE, Vanity Fair and W, he became known for his humanist approach and the idealization of women. It is the responsibility of photographers, he said, “to free women, and finally everyone, from the terror of youth and perfection.” I assume that includes pink birds with bowler hats…

Mr Lindbergh launched the careers of supermodels like Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista and Cindy Crawford, all beaming with youthful joy on his famous January 1990 VOGUE UK cover. To this very day, he continues to be a force of nature redefining the standards of beauty in the fashion world and beyond. A rebellious spirit with an unusual character, indeed.

…maybe not so much. You know it’s a grey day when your photo
doesn’t need a filter to convert from color to black and white.
Here’s to more rainbows and, hopefully sooner than later,
sunny days. The rain has to stop eventually, right?

We all go through childhood, but no two experiences are alike. Whether it’s culture, class, and/or geography, it all shapes these formative years in a powerful way. But despite these differences, as young people, we each explore the world around us with the same sense of wonder and imagination. These varied snapshots highlight a universal truth about life—this juxtaposition of emotion starts when we’re young and never ends. We just grow older and wiser. Can you see yourself in any of these?

Recently I had the pleasure of viewing one of the most
fascinating and enjoyable films in recent memory.
John Maloof developed the film about the life and work
of Vivian Maier. Maier remains the most mysterious street
and documentary photographers of the 20th Century and
was completely unknown until the time of her death at
83 years old in 2009.

Her work was first discovered in Chicago in 2007
wherein 3000+ prints, over 100,000 negatives,
and hundreds of undeveloped film were stored in
boxes hidden within several abandoned storage units
and ended up on the auction floor in separate lots only
to be rescued by John Maloof. Born in New York, Maier
spent much of her youth in France. Starting in the late
1940s, she shot an average of a roll of film a day.
She moved to Chicago in the mid-1950s, and spent the
next 40 years working as a nanny to support her unrelenting
passion for photography. There are so many wonderful
photographs in her collection and these are not even a
tiny fraction of her work.

In addition to her known street photography,
she had a prolific, relentless curiosity that worked
in a vast range of subjects and styles.
Maier’s photos reveal a unique ability to brilliantly
capture not only emotions but the issues of the
moment as depicted in protest scenes shot during
the social unrest of 1968. Her collection reflects
nine of Maier’s personal journeys from the pastures
of rural France to the streets of downtown Chicago,
Snapshots, America, Day, Maxwell, Beach, 1968,
Downtown, Walks, and Night.

Vivian’s photographs are a personal diary telling
her life story, capturing the essence and vibrancy
of her surroundings on a daily basis. She seemed to
stare deep into the soul of the 50s and 60s preserving
the everyday experience of the people she encountered.
The joy, heartbreak reality and curiosity she recorded
is what makes her work so compelling. Venturing outside
the comfortable homes and picturesque neighborhoods
of her employers, Maier shot many of her most iconic
photos while working for various Chicago families,
a job that allowed her the flexibility to travel both
domestically and abroad, as shown in her photographs
of New York, South Dakota, Florida, California, as well as
the rural pastures of Southern France.

As clear and forthright as her images are, they only
go so far in revealing who she was and why she never
shared any of her work…but don’t fret if you are a
film enthusiast. A fascinating new documentary,Finding Vivian Maier, is currently out in theaters
and is not to be missed. There is so much mystery
and work to admire and discover about this
gifted human being.